Sonic Unveiled

Author's Note:

First off, my apologies to Sega for the use of their characters, who have inspired me.

Secondly, I must note that this is a deconstructionist response to Sonic Unleashed. It is set in an alternate universe where Sonic lost, and it lets me look at some of the assumptions behind SU. If you don't like deconstruction, you may want to turn back.

Thirdly, the story is done and will be re-posted by chapter as I take one final look at everything. Not as much as I liked though; Bryan talked me into having a little more confidence in myself.

Spoiler Alerts:

Sonic Unleashed (necessary to understand the story)
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic and the Black Knight
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
Shadow the Hedgehog
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Content Warnings:

Deconstruction/Wreck Fic
Non-fatal, bloody violence
Fatal violence, no body shown
Mild sexual themes
Prominent and Background Het Pairings (ShadAmy, Sonamy, Knuxouge, Eggnilla, various Tails pairings)
Background Slash Pairing and moderate slash subtext (Vecpio, jokes about various male characters' sexuality)
Mild to Moderate Swearing. Shadow territory.

Apologies to:
Star Wars
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Wicked
Megamind
Power Rangers
Inception
TV Tropes

Many thanks to my betas:
* One who probably wishes to remain anonymous.
* Ben, the best boyfriend in the world
* Ryan Duran
* Bryan, the best cousin in the world

Chapter 0: Missing the Mark

He took a breath in the stifling heat, and focused.

Sonic looked around him, trying to get a view of the situation. In the distance he could see glistening, glowing eyes of green, seven; one for every emerald. Near him, at his feet and his sides, were the walls of the Gaia Temple of Apotos, shifted sideways and a stark white against the murky inside of the Earth. Between were chunks of rocks Dark Gaia tried to pelt him with, which were mostly hitting Chip—or should he say, Light Gaia—instead, hacking away at his temple armor.

Sonic ran off the edge and closed his eyes, reaching out through the emeralds into the fabric of space. Little bubbles in the world began to appear in his mind, little places where space or gravity or time wavered. He reached into one, leapt into it, shooting himself forward toward the beast's eye. But the end of the little wormhole became apparent, and he dodged left to meet the next one. Another passed and he jumped up, only to find it had really been a foot ahead.

"What? No!" He screamed.

"Sonic!" Chip's voice called from far away.

He felt himself begin to fall, out of momentum and out of wormhole. Fighting panic, he closed his eyes again and tried to get to another bubble in the foam of the universe, but he was falling too fast, and he was too weak. He asked himself what was wrong with himself, why he couldn't chaos control like that time on the ARK, and only just came to the answer that he was exhausted when he felt the heat beginning to sear his flesh. As the burning intensified, he thought of all the people on the surface depending on him, hoping they would save him one more time, and the awful world they'd have to live in if Dark Gaia were allowed to win.

The bubbles in space began to spin around him and he felt himself stop moving. As the orange of his eyelids became black, he heard Chip whisper softly, "Live, Sonic."

He gently pulled the page from her desk and pulled it close to his face.

"Hey! You give that back, Knuckles!" She shouted, standing.

"Your Highness." He walked away from the desk, his red locks swishing with movement, tracing his eyes over the page.

"I don't make you call me Doctor Rose! And that's personal! I was writing it!"

"What's he going to think when he comes back from the dead and sees how wrong you got this?" Knuckles turned, glancing at her over the paper.

"I'm trying to reconstruct what happened for clues as to how to find him." Dr. Rose stood up. "We know Sonic's friend Chip was Light Gaia, it explains the way he was able to help at the temples. We know the temples all disappeared…"

"But a mech battle? You've been hanging around the Emperor and Dr. Prower way too much." He walked over to her, locking eyes, his face pulling into a gentle grin with teeth just a hint too sharp. Knuckles folded the papers delicately in his gloved hands. Then he took one of Amy's hands and turned it slightly, placing the papers in it.

She looked into his eyes, the world seeming to spin around her as if she were young again. It seemed like it had been so long since anyone had looked her in the eye besides Shadow; was that what Knuckles was getting at? No, Knuckles loved his Queen, and she had half a mind he'd take Sonic over either of them. But there was a look of such light in his eyes, such warmth, that she felt her knees quake, trying not to remember a time when everyone looked like that.

"I miss him so much, Amy," His violet eyes seemed almost to beg her.

"I do too."

"You help me believe he's…" Knuckles gulped. "He's really out there. Saving kids and fighting demons. I just wish he'd tell us."

Amy took Knuckles clawed fingers in her other hand. "And we'll kick his butt for not telling us when we find him. After we hug him to death."

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly, protectively. "I knew you'd cheer me up. We… We're having a little banquet in the Hidden Palace to celebrate Rouge's successful theft of the last Chaos Emerald. Not the one Eggman's having, a personal one, just old friends. Please bring Shadow and his raisin cookies."

Amy shoved Knuckles away playfully. "So that's what this is about! I'm busy with my research—the projected date when the split was supposed to happen is in a few weeks—but I'll send Shadow. Eggman can make do with a robotic guard for a little while."

As the music played and the people mingled, he sat on his throne and smiled.

Emperor Ivo Robotnik turned and smiled at his Empress, who smiled back at him, jewels glittering in her long, orange ears. Some of the media had begun to complain about excesses, but the sub-industrial grade diamonds had to go somewhere, didn't they? He'd just shut them down if they kept it up.

"I'm the Emperor," he murmured to himself. "I can do that."

"Do what, father?"

He glanced to his other side, to Princess Cream, who was looking at him with great interest. She had grown up quite nicely, he thought, much like her mother, though she refused any gems for her long ears. He respected that; he was sure that she would eventually use her frugality and reputation to depose him. She looked at him with inquisitive orange eyes, an almost sneering arrogance in them that both sickened and impressed him. One side of her face curled up on itself, a grin.

His bodyguard, standing nearby, wrinkled up his little brow and crossed his thick arms, clawtips tracing one of his red stripes like they were a wound.

"This!" he announced, standing. "Ladies and Gentlemen, now that we've all had something to eat, why don't we check out my latest invention!" He hopped down from his throne. "My latest Dark Gaia suppressor model is nearly complete, and now has an effective range of a mile!"

He saw Cream roll her eyes, and silently invited her to do a better job.

He stood on the hill waiting.

It was Reunion Day, the day Holoska rejoined the rest of the planet and the cracks disappeared. He couldn't be sure why they celebrated it, given that the world all but a few days later, but he couldn't fault them. Always need a reason to celebrate, he decided. Even when things are bad, even when they can't get worse and then they do, people need to look on the bright side. Just smile, or something.

He tried to smile and scratched his lip.

"I've had ten years to get used to these teeth," he scolded himself.

He got down on all fours and waited, watching, reflecting on the time past. Wondering about people he knew, even though he heard about most of them on the news. All but the one he needed. The one who could tell him what happened…

Then he saw what he had been waiting for. A little shape sliding down the hill, straight toward the road below. Every year it happened, and every year at least one of them was hit or hurt or killed. It had happened before Dark Gaia came, of course, but less often, and less deaths then. But there would be none this year.

He bolted down the hill, pulling himself with his arms and pushing with his legs. He began to slide toward the bottom and reached out one arm, stretching until he caught hold of the lanky boy, who looked at him with indignation, unnatural violet color to eyes that should have been brown—his parents' were. As they neared the highway, the cloaked figure reached his other arm, extending it by double to reach the cliff above. He pulled his arm in, pushed the boy onto the cliff, and climbed up after him.

"I won't always be there to save you."

The little man in the cloak turned and walked away.